Bush Bean Seeds - Blue Lake 274

Minimum Seeds per Packet: 30

Packet Weight: 14g

Planting Season: After Last Frost

Sowing Method: Direct Seed

Seed Depth: 1"

Direct Seed Spacing: 1-3"

Soil Temperature: 60-80 ℉

Days to Sprout: 7-14

Mature Spacing: 3-4"

Sun Requirement: Full Sun

Frost Tolerance: Frost Sensitive

Days to Harvest: 50

When to Seed Bush Beans 

Bush beans are a fast-maturing, frost sensitive crop that should be directly seeded into the garden after all danger of frost has passed. 

Where to Plant Bush Beans

Bush beans will want a spot with full sun and loose, well-draining soil. They’ll love a spot rich in organic matter, but too much nitrogen can cause plants to produce more leaves than flowers or pods. 

Growing Bush Beans

Plant bush beans one inch deep and one to three inches apart, in rows one to two feet apart. Once germinated, they can be thinned to their mature planting distance of three to four inches. Assuming your soil is high quality with well-aged organic matter, you shouldn’t have to apply any kind of fertilizer. Something that can be helpful is to use a legume inoculant. This ensures that legumes will have all of the symbiotic microbes they need. Typically, these microbes are already found in the soil but can be in low numbers if your garden is depleted or has recently been converted from a lawn. Make sure your beans get at least one inch of water per week.

Harvesting Bush Beans

Bush beans are known for maturing all at once (within a few weeks of each other), rather than pole beans that produce continuously. Plant bush beans in successions every two weeks for a continuous harvest. Pick bush beans regularly, when the pods have reached full length but the beans inside have not formed. Regular picking will encourage more production.

Common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) including bush beans and pole beans typically self-pollinate and only need to be isolated by about 20 feet from other bean varieties in order to save pure seed. Note: favas, runner beans, and asparagus beans are not the same species, and require more isolation distance.

To collect viable bean seeds, wait to harvest until the pods turn brown on the plants. In dry climates, beans can be left to dry completely on the plants, but if you live in an area with high humidity or a lot of rain during the late summer and fall when beans are maturing, it’s a good idea to bring the mature pods indoors to finish drying on screens or spread out in a single layer on newsprint. Most gardeners shell their saved beans out of the pods by hand, though they can also be threshed and winnowed in large batches. Make sure your beans have completely dried down before storing them in sealed containers in a dark, dry, and cool location.